Climatic Trends and Extremes of Tropical Cyclone Precipitation Affecting China and Its Key Economic Zones

In this study, 1951-2010 Tropical Cyclone (TC) Yearbook data from the Shanghai Typhoon Institute/China Meteorological Administration were used to investigate the evolution of precipitation characteristics of TCs that affect China and key economic zones, including the total precipitation and precipitation intensity, as well as the frequency of TCs of different precipitation grades. The results show that interannual variations in the total precipitation amount of TCs affecting China have been significant over the past 60 years. The annual maximum precipitation of TCs affecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have slightly increased since the 1970s, which means that the maximum precipitation due to TCs has possibly increased in recent years. Since the 1970s, the frequency of TCs in China with precipitation of more than 250 mm has increased, while the frequency of TCs affecting both deltas has not. The climate tendency of maximum precipitation in 24 h due to TCs is insignificant, but jumped during the 1980s. The frequencies of TCs with daily maximum precipitation of more than 250 mm affecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have slowly increased since the 1980s. The frequencies of TCs with hourly maximum precipitation affecting China and both deltas show periodic variation, but no significant decadal change.